LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST

"If you have to see only one of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival's offerings in Bloomington, do yourself a favor and see 'Love's Labour's Lost.'... The Illinois Shakespeare Festival's 'Love's Labour's Lost' conjures up a flirty, colorful world of goatees, attitude, confection, giggles, and tangled tresses. It's a theatrical, highfalutin place where the word is king and language woos, mocks, struts, bites, sings, and does a few somersaults for good measure before turning and winking at the audience... It's a beautiful dream that can't last, and its fading is imaginatively staged by Fried." - Gary Panetta - Peoria Journal Star

"The ﬁnal moments of Love’s Labour’s were an audacious risk that stunned the audience and became the most remarkable and memorable moments of the entire Festival. With the arrival of Marcade and his announcement of the death of the Princess’s father, the entire production stopped cold. In sudden silence, dramatic following the boisterous Nine Worthies debacle, the Princess turned away from the audience, and as she did, banks of lights went out in a slow progression like an eclipse, following her movement and plunging the characters into darkness. The closing remarks were made in near whispers, and when the ﬂamboyant and colorful Boyet and Don Armado returned to the stage, their outrageous accents were abandoned and their vibrant costumes and powdered wigs had been discarded: the despondent Armado was barefoot in jeans, the grief-stricken Boyet in a business suit. As the would-be couples made their sad promises and farewells, Moth joined Nathaniel and Holofernes for the singing of a guitar-accompanied dirge as the company slowly dismantled the set, carrying away props and removing scenery in the shadows. The production—and the thirtieth Festival—ended on this jarring and expertly executed, but certainly less than festive, note." - Justin Shaltz - Shakespeare Bulletin